A Comparative Study of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Surface Modified Using Carboxylic Acids

Abstract

In the last decade nanotechnology has greatly developed in many research fields such as engineering, electronic, biological and many others. They can offer several possibilities to design tools, to create new techniques or improve the already existing ones, to discover innovative applications. Nano-science is one of the most important research and development frontiers in modern science. Nanotechnology is now widely used throughout the pharmaceutical industry, medicine, electronics, robotics, and tissue engineering. For biological and biomedical applications, magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are the primary choice because of their biocompatibility, super-paramagnetic behavior and chemical stability.
 The purpose of this work is the design, development and surface modification of magnetic nanoparticles. Naked iron oxide nanoparticles have high chemical activity, toxicity and aggregate in the body fluid therefore providing surface coating for the stability of the magnetic nanoparticles. These protective shells not only stabilize the magnetic iron nanoparticles but also can be used for further functionalization. Here the iron oxide nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method, then this nanoparticle is modified using acids- oleic acid and succinic acid and a comparative study is carried out. The TEM, FTIR and DSC characterization techniques were used to confirm the surface modification. After which, it was found the iron oxide nanoparticle with succinic acid gives a uniform coating of the three and can be used for further functionalization for various applications.